


weep at my grave // marvel

by totallyfxcked



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallyfxcked/pseuds/totallyfxcked
Summary: "you will live in a universe that i design: a perfect universe. it took many lives to get us to this point, but now that we're here, we might as well make the best of it. now, close your eyes."//the bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.//a post-infinity war story.





	1. prologue

you will live in a universe that i design: a perfect universe. it took many lives to get us to this point, but now that we're here, we might as well make the best of it. now, close your eyes.

//

do not stand at my grave and weep  
i am not there; i do not sleep.  
i am a thousand winds that blow,  
i am the diamond glints on snow,  
i am the sun on ripened grain,  
i am the gentle autumn rain.  
when you awaken in the morning's hush  
i am the swift uplifting rush  
of quiet birds in circled flight.  
i am the soft stars that shine at night.  
do not stand at my grave and cry,  
i am not there; i did not die.

mary elizabeth frye

//

playlist

six feet under by billie eilish,

see you soon by jukebox the ghost,

high hopes by panic! at the disco,

wires by the neighbourhood,

monster by imagine dragons,

the ballad of me and my brain by the 1975,

blood // water by grandson,

daddy issues by the neighbourhood,

long way down by robert delong,

and  
legendary by welshly arms.


	2. the void

when peter parker woke up, there was one moment where everything was altered. a moment where he blinked slowly, drearily, and half-waited for may to toss a pillow at him playfully, telling him it was time to wake up. almost as soon as it was there, it had vanished, replaced with terrifying memories that caused peter's breathing to go haywire. he sat up, taking in his environment. it was all black. everything was black. the only things he could see were himself and few blurry figures in the distance.

he considered calling out for help, as he was sure there was at least one person out there who could help him. someone could help him breathe. instead of doing so, he sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees.

it was a miracle that he was there, alive, but it sure as hell didn't feel like one. it didn't feel like a miracle that he felt like he physically had to hold himself together so he wouldn't disappear again. his breaths were shallow, and peter felt a bit like he was drowning.

his vision blurred with tears, and peter cursed himself for stopping to be afraid when he should be saving the world. he just wanted mr. stark or may or ned or mj or anyone familiar.

fuck, he never told mj he loved her. never told mr. stark that he was the closest thing he had to a father since ben (which meant the world to him, by the way.) he didn't often enough compliment may's cooking, even when it was terrible. he could never again thank ned profusely for being the best 'guy in the chair' he could ask for.

he had some many regrets, and each one of them piled on his back like the rubble of that building had piled on his back at homecoming.

soon, there was a hand on his shoulder. it was careful, gentle. a bit timid. he snapped up, ready to fight for his life once more even as he was hit with a rush of exhaustion and dizziness.

the person stood back, raising their hands as if calming a beast. it was a woman with long, sparkling brown hair and a red jacket that went down to her knees. red dots leapt from her fingers like sparks from a fire. she didn't seem to mean any harm, though.

it was the scarlet witch.

peter felt his arms lowering along with his defenses. sure, this wasn't a person he would particularly trust after the events of the civil war, but it was someone familiar. he found himself sinking back to the ground, still feeling as if he was going to fall apart again.

the witch slowly made her way back to him, a concerned expression gracing her countenance.

"is it okay if i put my hand on your shoulder, little one?" she asked, her voice quiet as she reminisced on the times where she wished someone would do the same for her.

peter nodded slowly yet with an apparent desperation, still nervously trying to contain his labored breathing. the witch gracefully moved to his side, once again placing a soothing hand on the boy's shoulder.

the warmth played a major role in grounding him, as it reminded him that he was there, he was real, and he wasn't going to dissipate into ash anytime soon.

"t-t-thank you," he stuttered, sniffling as he ran out of tears to cry.

"of course," she responded, rubbing her hand in soft circles on his back. "what's your name?"

for a moment, peter began to panic once more. she had seen him without the mask! she knew he was spider-man! he quickly, however, realized that it didn't matter. they were somewhere else entirely, somewhere where secret identities didn't matter.

"peter," he said. "peter parker."

"i'm wanda. maximoff. now, besides the obvious, what seems to be the matter, peter?" her voice was kind, and peter really needed someone kind.

"have you seen mr- tony stark?"

her eyes widened a bit, an unwanted demonstration of emotion. "you know tony stark?"

"yeah! he's my-" peter cut himself off, confusion crossing over his face.

tony stark was his what? he wasn't his father, although he sure felt like one. saying he was his boss certainly wasn't enough. mentor also didn't feel like it suited the man.

"he's my friend," peter decided on, memories flicking through his head ("this isn't a hug.") ("we're not there yet.")

"oh, alright," she said slowly. "i haven't seen him. i'm sorry."

peter nodded, sighing shakily. "i know. it was a long shot, i just.."

"i understand, young one."

the conversation went on hold a moment as peter furrowed his eyebrows in thought. wanda watched the boy closely, deeply worried for his well being.

"did you feel it?" peter asked suddenly, looking up at wanda with wide eyes.

"feel what?" she asked, even though she had an inkling of what he answer might be.

"the reckoning?" he whispered; in any other context, it would almost seem like a joke. "like.. your cells? falling apart? your organs... disintegrating? your own brain vanishing?"

as the boy spoke, wanda felt her heart sinking lower and lower. he had felt it all?

"no. i didn't." it hurt to say, but it was the truth.

"really?" peter's voice was shaking, and wanda wished she could do something to further calm him down. "so it was.. it was just me?"

"i'm sure you weren't alone, okay? just.. not me," she comforted, running a hand through the boy's hair in a motherly fashion.

he shuttered away from the movement.

"nice job, kid. you know. at homecoming. happy told me what you did," mr. stark said as he walked past peter into the kid's home, ruffling the boy's hair as he moved.

"m-mr. stark! hey! yeah! thanks! i mean.. i know i shouldn't have gone after him, if that's what you're here to say. especially without my suit. but i just.. he was gonna steal your stuff, and i couldn't let that happen. not if i knew-"

"hey, hey, hey. chill out. didn't i just tell you i was proud of you?"

"no?"

"oh. well, then, i'm proud of you, sport."

he snapped out of the memory quickly, attempting to distract himself with literally any other subject. "are we the only ones here?" he asked.

"i don't think so," wanda responded, respecting the fact that peter didn't feel like talking about whatever happened to be on his mind. "we're just all so far apart."

"oh. alright," he said, the quiet very uncharacteristic of him.

all of a sudden, a sort of whirring sound came from behind the two heroes. peter turned around slowly, remaining seated on the ground as he watched billions of dust particles flow up into the air and twist and turn until they formed a person.

"what the fuck is going on?"

he knew that voice. peter stood up quickly, smiling at its owner: peter quill.

"mr. starlord?" he said loudly, excitement clear in his voice.

"twerp? hey!" quill said, chuckling as the smaller peter rushed over and hugged him with such force they both almost fell over. "peter squared is back in business!"

peter parker chuckled. "yeah. peter squared."

wanda stood fluidly, tiny sparks of magic bursting from her fingers as she twiddled them nervously.

"i'm peter, but you can call me quill, since, you know, there's two of us," quill declared, smiling down at peter as he held his hand out for wanda to shake. "nice jacket, by the way."

wanda looked down at her jacket and then up at quill's, laughing softly and halfheartedly when she realized how similar they were. "wanda."

she shook quill's hand, keeping an eye on peter in her peripheral vision.

"anyway, do you guys happen to know the way out of here? i've got a galaxy to save."

"hey! i want to help! and i'm sure ms. wanda does too!" peter declared. "she has cooler powers than you do!"

"i mean, you told me that you have cooler tech than me and that obviously wasn't true."

"ha ha. but seriously. she's better than you."

"i'm offended. but you're probably right."

before peter could tell wanda to show quill her powers because, oh my god man that would be such a burn! a loud voice echoed throughout the dome.

"no need to fight," it said. "you are the chosen few. you should feel lucky."

peter staggered back a few steps, causing both quill and wanda to rush to his side in an almost parental fashion.

"you will live in a universe that i design: a perfect universe. it took many lives to get us to this point, but now that we're here, we might as well make the best of it. now, close your eyes."

peter looked between wanda and peter, asking an unspoken question, should i close my eyes?

"we're not strong enough to pick a fight just yet, young one," wanda said softly, nodding assuredly and closing her eyes. "but don't worry; our time will come."

"yeah, kid. glinda's right," quill said, putting a hand on peter's shoulder as he closed his eyes.

there was something about that kid that brought out the parent in everyone.

peter took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. a red light soon flashed across the world, bright enough that peter could feel its presence through his eyelids.

it was the birth of a new world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have the next few chapters of this pre-written. updates likely come out first on tumblr (@/thatsonearthdipshit) or wattpad (totallyfxcked.) thank you so much for reading!!


	3. the search

when tony stumbled through the portal to the city of wakanda, none of the avengers could bring themselves to feign surprise or even happiness. they were defeated: plain and simple. there was nothing they could do.

what did surprise them, however, was the question tony was asking. "is he here? please tell me he's here. please."

"who, tony?" bruce asked, having left the hulk-buster suit.

"the-the kid. the spider." he answered, his face falling when he didn't see peter standing anywhere.

"he's not with you?" bruce questioned, taking in the way tony's high-tech suit was completely destroyed, only bits of it still clinging to him.

tony's eyes drooped down to his hands, the hands he couldn't bear to wipe the dust off of. "he's gone. i thought he might have- it was stupid of me."

he took in the sight of the avengers, or what used to be the avengers. cap was sitting on the grass with natasha standing by his side. thor was there, too, his hair very short and a new hammer in his hand. the king's guard, okoye, had her head lowered in mourning with rhodey by her side. bruce stood by the shell of the hulk-buster suit.

a second later, another figure hopped through the portal. she looked like a robot, her face blue and her hand made of wires.

"who's that?"

tony turned around, briefly looking at nebula before turning back to the avengers. "that's-"

he was cut off by what seemed to be a talking raccoon; tony did think much of it since he had seen much crazier in the past 24 hours. "nebula? we all thought you were freakin' dead!"

nebula shrugged, the motion choppy and aggressive. "and hello to you too, rocket. gamora saved me."

"where is she? i always figured that if any of us would survive the apocalypse, it would be me. but she came at a close second. yeah. where is she?" the raccoon, rocket, asked, trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

nebula only looked at the raccoon and, even though she was basically a robot, every avenger could read the expression on her face.

rocket pretended his hope didn't fall, and it hadn't left him worse off than before. "what about quill? drax? mantis?"

tony could feel nebula's eyes bore into the back of his head as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "they're gone. i'm so sorry. i tried- i tried to help them. i wasn't... strong enough."

cap furrowed his eyebrows from where he sat on the grass, turning his head to look at stark for the first time in two years. "you can't possibly blame all of this on yourself."

tony chuckled humorlessly, morbidly. "yeah? try me."

"tony-"

"you know what, rogers? i don't want to hear it right now. okay? don't tell me i'm a hero because i'm not. how can i be a hero if all these people are dead? you don't get to tell me what is and isn't my fault. you weren't even there. you haven't been here." it went quiet for a second before tony quickly wiped his eyes with his arm and spoke up again. "anyway, who were your casualties?"

cap seemed like he wanted to speak up again, but natasha beat him to it. "loki, vision, wanda, sam, bucky, and t'challa. what about you?"

tony had a feeling vision would be dead; he hadn't wanted it to be true, but it was there. he had the mind stone, and nothing would get in thanos' way.

he sighed before answering natasha's question. "doctor strange, peter quill, drax, mantis, gamora, and..." he took a deep breath. "peter parker."

rhodey seemed to react to this, cocking his head in confusion. "your little intern?"

tony clenched and unclenched his fist: a nervous habit. "yeah. but.. i didn't tell you. he wasn't.. just an intern. he's.. oh man, he'd kill me for telling you," he laughed sadly. "he's spider-man."

"no way. the guy who stole cap's shield?" rhodey asked, eyes wide.

tony smiled. "yeah. yeah. that's him."

"he's just a kid, tony! are you crazy?"

"he wouldn't have stopped even if i told him to! i took away his goddamn suit one time and he still managed to save our sorry asses! besides, he got through the fight! he saved my life! he saved strange's life! he helped so many people! it wasn't until that stupid purple chicken nugget snapped his fingers and turned everyone to dust that he-"

"you don't have to keep-"

"-died. he's dead. he died right in my arms. kept saying 'i don't wanna go, mr. stark,' and i didn't even fucking say anything. i didn't say anything! worst of all? he felt every godforsaken second of it because of his stupid spider senses, or whatever the fuck he calls- called them."

everyone was silent as they stared up at tony; he normally wasn't one to share his emotions with the group.

"i'm done talking about this. what are we supposed to do now?" he said, his voice clearly strained.

okoye finally spoke up. "we go to the princess."

no one seemed to think this was a bad idea, so they all followed behind the guard, who was desperately trying to keep her cool. the avengers walked quietly, the only sound being the clobbering of their shoes on the dirt. cap would give tony a look of pity every minute or so, a look that tony would adamantly ignore.

they walked into the lab to the sound of frenzied clicking.

"princess? what are you doing?" okoye asked, striding over to shuri and gazing at the holographic screen in front of her.

"looking," was her simple reply.

"for him?"

shuri nodded, still tapping frantically.

"you're not going to find him. the king is gone. you know what we have to do."

"i'm not worried about that right now! i'm worried about t'challa!" she declared.

"shuri, he disappeared right in front of me. he's not here."

"then where's my mother? where's nakia?"

"nakia is on a mission overseas. you know that."

"what if it got her too?"

"panic is not the answer right now. i know it is hard, but we must remain level-headed."

shuri pulled okoye into a hug. okoye tensed a moment before she hesitantly patted the princess' back. the princess soon turned to face the avengers, a half-hearted smile on her cheeks.

"we need a game plan," she said. "a plan to bring them back."

"we put everything into that battle! what are we supposed to do now?" bruce asked.

a single tear rolled down shuri's cheek, and she brushed it off with a flourish. "it will be much simpler now, if only because we have nothing left to lose."

the avengers gazed around at each other; were they really that expendable? tony stark was the first one who nodded and headed into shuri's lab.

"what all do we have to work with?" he asked.

"well, we've got the world's supply of vibranium, what's left of the strongest heroes in the world, two of the greatest spies if we're lucky, and a way for another black panther to arise." her gaze shifted to okoye as she said the last few words.

"alright then," tony said, cracking his fingers and his neck. "let's get them back."


	4. the enemies

over the course of his life, a shit ton of people had lied to and about peter quill. he's been called a loser, which is a lie for obvious reasons. for real, have you even looked at his abs? they'd blow you away. they've called him a bad singer? tell that to his cover of the rubberband man by the spinners and those songs he sung in the shower that he knew had gamora drooling outside the bathroom door. suck it.

despite all of those falsehoods, there was one thing people said about peter quill that was absolutely, completely, 100% true: he had a lot of enemies. whether it be his dead god dad, the police force on half the planets he'd been to, and those weird-ass gold people, someone was always out to get him.

as he soon found out, little peter parker had made quite a few enemies himself. a metal vulture. captain america himself. the comrades of a metal vulture. okay; maybe peter parker didn't have quite as many enemies as quill, but he was sure getting there.

they hadn't even considered enemies being a problem until they were navigating the streets of this whole new city that had just appeared completely out of nowhere like dorothy's house in munckinland. apparently, things like jail and criminal records weren't really things thanos checked for as he whisked people off to this place.

"oh shit," parker had exclaimed, freezing in the middle of the sidewalk.

"what? what is it?" wanda asked, voice full of concern.

(she couldn't protect her own brother, but she would save this kid. she would.)

"i know that guy," he said, making an odd hand gesture with no apparent meaning before proceeding to turn around and walk the other direction.

"what? afraid of a little social interaction?" quill teased lightly, nudging peter's shoulder as he followed the kid.

"true, but it's not about that. that's the vulture. he tried to kill me because i stopped him from stealing a bunch of the avengers' stuff!"

"that man tried to kill you? you're just a kid!" wanda chimed in.

"i know! maybe we should, i don't know, call the police?" peter asked.

"no!" both quill and wanda responded simultaneously.

"i'm kinda wanted... everywhere?" quill said at the same time wanda said: "i wouldn't sign some dumb contract so now i'm an international criminal?"

peter looked between the two and shrugged. "alright. hide then?"

wanda and quill shared a look; quill shrugged.

"yeah. that's for the best," wanda answered for the both of them.

quill found it so weird that less than an hour ago, he hadn't even known this woman. however, having something they both desperately wanted to protect was a great ice breaker.

they soon found an apartment building to take refuge in; wanda got the key at the front desk and motioned for the boys to follow her. they did as they were told, if slightly awkwardly.

the room had essentially the bare minimum of things in it; a pull-out couch, a bed, some basic kitchen appliances, and a tv.

that night, things changed again.

_it was lunch. the day before the field trip. the day before the infinity war. the day before.. everything, it felt like._

_"wait, you're not going on the field trip tomorrow? why not?" peter asked mj, a pouty expression on his face as he whined._

_she laughed (peter would never get over how lovely her laugh was. he was very glad she started letting herself laugh more and more over the past two years.) "why does it matter? what, are you gonna miss me?"_

_"wow. you've been called out," ned said, shoving some more chips in his mouth._

_peter slapped his shoulder. "shut up, man!"_

_suddenly, the mood became very somber._

_"why did you leave the field trip, peter? you know we were supposed to study for decathlon when you came back, right?" mj asked, frowning._

_peter, taken aback, fumbled to find an answer. "mr... mr. stark needed me!"_

_"he needed you more than we needed you?" ned asked._

_"what?"_

_"we could've been together, you know. when it happened. how are you supposed to know where we are now?"_

_"it's okay! i'll find you guys. me, wanda, and quill. you'll love them!"_

_"i had to die alone because of you, peter," mj said, suddenly looking tearful and distraught. "i was at the coffee shop where we were meant to meet up. i was all alone."_

_"mj, i'm sorr-"_

_suddenly, she was gone._

_"mj? ned, did you see-"_

_he turned, and ned was gone too. no- everyone was gone. peter took a gasping breath and turned his gaze down to his hand. yet again they were dissolving. falling apart._

_it was even worse than the first time, though, because he was completely and utterly alone. there was no mr. stark to hold on to. no mj to cement him into reality. no ned to crack a joke. no may to tuck him in. there was no one._

_peter pulled his knees to his chest and rocked as he once again dissipated into nothing._

he woke up with a start. wanda had a hand resting on his forehead, and quill seemed to be pacing in the background.

"i need to find my friends," he choked out. "i need my friends. they're- they're mad at me for leaving them and-and mj died all alone because i ditched her."

"mj? who's that?"

"my- one of my best friends."

"how do you know she's even here?" quill asked.

"i just.. i just know. we need to- i have to see her."

"okay," wanda said. "okay. i'll find your friends. what do they look like?"

"i can.. i have a picture." he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small picture, the edges ripped and frayed; it had obviously been carried around for a while. "here you go."

"thank you. i'll be back soon, okay? quill, make sure you feed him," wanda said, slinging on her jacket and shoes and heading out of the building.

it was quiet for a few minutes before quill decided to speak up.

"so, twerp, what did you dream about?"

"i don't really want to talk about it, okay?"

"it'll make you feel better. talking about my dreams with gamora always made me feel better," he said, his voice drifting off a bit when he mentioned gamora.

"gamora. she's the one you punched thanos over, right?"

"yeah. i love her."

peter nodded, a sad smile on his face. "that day really was the worst, huh?"

"i dunno; i've been through a lot of shit. my mom died. cancer. i had to kill my dad because apparently he was responsible for the death of my mom and was trying to take over the world."

"i'm sorry. that's awful. my parents are dead too," peter said, his eyes on the floor. "plane crash."

"you're so young, kid. you shouldn't have to go through that stuff."

"my uncle died too. he was shot by a burglar right in front of me," he started tearing up again. "my aunt, may, is an angel but she's not here. i guess she's dead too now. she was the coolest, mr. starlord. the absolute coolest."

"you can just call me quill," was the only thing peter could bring himself to say. "keep going. talking will make it better. i swear."

peter nodded, taking a deep breath. "you know tony stark, right? iron man?"

"yeah. i mean, i only was with him for like an hour, but yeah."

"i met him three years ago." peter's voice cracked. "he's the closest thing i've had to a father since.. since ben. am i cursed? is everyone who treats me decently bound to die too soon? painfully?"

"no. it's not your fault, kid. i know exactly how you feel. i know it feels like your fault, but it isn't. okay? it isn't your fault."

he pulled peter into an awkward side hug, letting the kid cry into his shoulder.

"i had a dad too. i didn't even know it," quill began, his voice barely even a whisper. "his name was yondu. i always thought that i hated him. a few months ago, me and all the other people you met me with needed to save the world. he helped us do it. took his own life to save mine. i'd always wanted a dad; i always had one, but he was gone before i realized."

the two sat there for a quite a while, telling stories until peter no longer felt alone.


	5. guilt

cap slowly walked over to the table where tony was tinkering with some piece of technology cap knew he wouldn't be able to understand even if he tried.

"tony," he said, addressing the man with a solemn nod.

"captain," tony responded, not turning his attention away from his work. "what do you want?"

"to talk," he said simply.

tony sighed, sounding annoyed, before responding. "fine. then talk."

"do you really blame it all on yourself?" cap asked.

tony looked up at cap, exhaling deeply, before bringing his gaze back to the task in front of him. "therapist always tells me it's one of my biggest and most detrimental problems."

"blaming yourself for things you have no control over?"

tony hesitated a moment before nodding. "it's been a problem ever since the war. maybe even before that. i don't know."

cap nodded. "i'm not sure if this will ease your conscious or anything, but i don't blame you for everything that went down between us."

"why not?" tony responded, not looking away from his work.

"you had to watch him murder your parents. that would've driven anyone ever the edge."

"no, it wouldn't have."

"you've been through a lot of shit, tony. don't minimize that."

"everyone's been through a lot of shit these days. that kid's parents died in a plane crash and then his uncle got murdered right in front of him and he's still the best person i've ever met."

"and he looks up to you. doesn't that mean anything?"

"that's a trick question. if i say no, that implies _he_ doesn't mean anything," he responded simply. "the kid means everything. he shouldn't look up to me."

"tony-"

"i'm really sick of dealing with your lectures. okay? there's nothing you can do about it. it's my problem. i have to figure it out myself."

"okay. then stop distracting yourself with busy work and figure it out!"

tony stopped everything he was doing and looked up at cap, anger in his eyes. "busy work? i'm trying to save my kid!"

"he's not your kid, tony!"

"if you just came over to yell at me about my choices and just be a dick in general, then you can leave. i'm trying to work."

"jesus. calm down."

"calm down? i don't understand what you expect from me, cap. i had a dream where everyone i loved died, and it nearly fucking drove me crazy. it actually happened this time. do you understand? i wasn't enough to stop it. we weren't enough to stop it. our friends are dead. our family is dead. there's nothing left to do but get them back. god, you're such a prick. everyone thinks you're some big hero but all you do is judge me and insult me and i'm sick of it. i really am."

"i swear i'm not trying to insult you-"

"yeah, but you are. are you just subconsciously passive aggressive or something?"

"i'm sorry, tony. i shouldn't impede on things i know nothing about."

"yeah. you're right. you don't know anything about me. you don't know anything about-about peter." his voice cracked on peter's name, and cap's heart broke a tiny bit.

"tell me about him, then."

"what?" tony asked, his voice clearly strained now.

"tell me about peter."

tony's breath shook as he exhaled. "he was the brightest, nicest kid i've ever known. he had a shining future. such a shining future. i met him three years ago for the.. the civil war. i'd had my eye on him for a little before then, though."

cap nodded, watching a bit confusedly as tony wiped his eyes with his arm. he'd never seen tony like that since... since then. because of that, he assumed it was not the best time to ask about the dust still covering the man's fingers.

"we- i went a year or so without being his-his friend, but then he saved my sorry ass with the whole thing that happened with the vulture, and... i don't know. things changed? i invited him down to the compound and.. we'd make adjustments to his suit together and sometimes we wouldn't even get to the suit because he'd make me watch some star wars movie and... he made me better, rogers. i don't know what i'm going to do without that."

cap sighed. "you'll have to do it for yourself."

"i don't know how to do that," he admitted quietly; he regained his composure almost as fast as it had vanished. "but, sitting here and moping won't do anything to bring him back, so i should get back to work."

he did just that, and cap figured it was in his best interest not to bother the man. he was already in the dog house for all the shit that had gone down between them in the past two years; he wasn't going to go and make it worse.

across the room, thor was practicing swinging his brand new axe as he watched rocket build some weird type of machine he had never seen before.

"how are you doing, rabbit?" thor asked, setting his hammer down on the table and seating himself across from the raccoon.

"fine," rocket answered. "totally, perfectly fine."

"i don't believe you," thor declared, his voice thunderously loud yet oddly kind.

"suit yourself."

thor sighed, pondering over what to say for a moment before speaking up yet again. "i know how you feel, you know. i told you my story, and i will gladly listen to yours."

"it's nothing that bad. just miss groot, is all."

"the tree was a noble lad. he fought valiantly."

"you don't know the half of it. one time. there was this blue fucker, can't even remember his name, and he tried to kill us. surprising, right? but groot saved us. basically died."

"and he came back from the dead? my brother loki used to do that all the time."

"awesome," rocket deadpanned, before attempting to move thor's hammer so he could get a paper that was pressed underneath it.

needless to say, this did not work. thor laughed heartily before picking up his hammer and setting it on the floor.

"good try, rabbit! like mjolnir, stormbreaker can only be wielded by those who are worthy!"

"m-what-er?"

"mjolnir. my old hammer. it was destroyed by my sister."

"the same sister that poked out your eye?"

"aye, that would be her." he began to leave before pausing and looking back at rocket. "you know who you would love? my good friend... i'm not sure i actually caught her real name. she was a valkyrie! she could drink a beer faster than you could tell her that your home planet is dying. fascinating, really. maybe i'll borrow one of your fancy sonar devices and plug in her location to give her a call."

he picked up his hammer and left the room.

"that's not how phones work!" rocket shouted as thor left, howling with laughter. "how does someone not know how phones work?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys. sorry this went so long without updating. hopefully i can update more consistently? that's as long as i don't keep getting distracted by new ideas instead of working on this,,, yikes:) anyway, thanks a lot for reading! it's super cool to know that there are people that actually want me to update this. i'll do my best to stay active for you guys!


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